Your Creative Path Is Never Clear
The Creative Path Is A Foggy One
That's due to not knowing how the future will pan out for ourselves.
Growing up our path had been set, our expectations set. We need to get educated, go to uni, find a job and work until you’re 60. The future looks bright, right?
We can get all the advice in the world, by the most influential speakers, the best industry advice—but it comes down to what you choose to do as you walk down your path. They may open a new path you hadn’t considered before, but now you have three or four paths available when your focus should be on one.
I met a school friend in Costa last month and I explained I’d rather lose my 20s and spend the next 30 years enjoying my life, than “live” in my 20s and spend the next 30 years working. His face lit up and we high-fived, spudded and did all the handshakes us guys do.
But no one’s path is the same.
Through my reading, everyone goes through failures, mistakes and hardships to reach their level of success. Starting can be difficult and knowing where to go when the road is unclear can leave you stagnant.
Fear Of Uncertainty Is Normal
Creatives feel the need to have it “all figured out”. And more likely than not, trying to figure out the best route stops us from taking any route. Why we do this? I’m not honestly sure. I know for me, it’s the feeling of scarcity and not wanting to disappoint others. I want to be sure what I’m doing is the right thing to help me grow, I mean—who doesn’t?
That fear of not knowing what will happen, hey it’s normal. Asking “what if?” is sure way to stop moving forward. Instead, ask “what have I got to lose?”
What you chose to do right now, is not what you will do for the rest of life. In fact, your whole life is an adventure. Remember Ash when he left on his Pokemon journey (I wish I left to go on a Pokemon journey) he never knew what Pokemon he would encounter or battles he would have to endure.
So just think of your first path as a test. After taking the first couple steps you can then decide whether or not that path is for you. And if you find out it isn’t, swap paths.
And don’t feel defeated because the path you thought was your dream choice turns out not to be. You do have to invest the time up front to at least try make your creative choice the right one. That’s one fear us as creatives have to get over.
So it’s worth repeating…
What you chose to do right now, is not what you will do for the rest of your life.
It took me a very long time, to get over this fear. And one way to get over the fear…
Look Forward To Seeing What Happens
I thought my creative path was a clear-cut one. I wanted to make art for the rest of my life and have people buy my originals and I’ll be in all the world-famous galleries.
Only until September 2016, I decided to steer and focus on what I believe now is my true passion. All this time, this passion was hiding underneath these layers of interests. The way I found it was to do some creative exploration—try a certain creative path be it, 3D animation, graphic design or spray painting and move on then try another.
If your path looks unclear, that’s the sign of great journey.
You have room for exploration. There’s room to experiment. Importantly, give yourself permission to experiment.
Don’t get stuck in the mud thinking “I don’t know what to do!”
If there’s 10 things you think you like to do, write them down and circle the ones that your gut says yes to.
What this all comes down to is belief. Hippy-ish? Maybe? But without self-belief, the right mindset and a strong will to succeed, you will never leave inertia. Pick a path and move forward. Only through the doing will you discover if the path fits your goals, as obvious as that sounds.
Once you have started, share your work, show your process, document your journey. By doing so, you’re also helping others find their own creative path.
There is so much opportunity in these times we live in. Get started.
Three Actions You Can Take Right Now:
- Embrace uncertainty. Pick a path and see where it goes.
- You need to be okay with not knowing where you’ll end up before you start.
- Making mistakes, blunders and failing is what we need sometimes for growth to occur.
Is there anything you plan to start working on this week? I’d love to hear! You can tweet me your thoughts @jaytenart
Thank you for reading.